


A Sisterly Bond

by Kireizaki



Series: To Love-Ru TF Stories [3]
Category: To Love-Ru
Genre: Gen, Genderbending, Manga & Anime, Transformation, Transgender, Yuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 07:57:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21096071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kireizaki/pseuds/Kireizaki
Summary: A new teacher is eager to connect with and help out Yami, a very quiet student who they feel dislikes them. Alone in their class at the end of the day, they have a run-in with a girl who claims to be able to help Yami open up a little, and get the teacher to perfectly understand where they're coming from.





	A Sisterly Bond

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally published on DeviantArt on February 24, 2018.
> 
> I'm slowly working through much of my library of work and getting them reposted on here until everything can be published on both sites concurrently. Please excuse any roughness in my writing, as I've developed a great deal since then!

“You’re setting a bad example for the students coming up to the roof, don’t you think?” Mikado asked, a teasing smile on her face.  
  
“Ah, Ms. Mikado! I’m sorry, I just...I just, well…” Tetsu tried to stammer out an excuse, only to quickly give up when he realized he really didn’t have one.  
  
“Haha, I’m just messing with you!” Mikado chuckled, “I come up here too from time to time, helps me clear my head when things are a little too stressful.”  
  
“Y-yeah, that’s why I came here too, actually.” Tetsu scratched at the back of his head, sheepishly.  
  
“No need to be nervous around me, I won’t tell anyone, I promise!” Mikado winked at Tetsu, “So what’s getting to you? New teacher jitters?”  
  
Tetsu sighed deeply. “You OK with me venting?”  
  
Mikado just laughed. “I’m a nurse, you know? It’s not part of my job description or anything, but students tell me about what’s getting them down all the time. Some of them fake being sick just to talk to me. It’s kinda sweet, actually.”  
  
“Must be nice, being so trusted and all that.”  
  
“It can be! So what is eating at you? Feel free to tell me anything, nobody else’ll hear about it if you don’t want them to.”  
  
“Well,” Tetsu began, “it’s a couple of things, really. I’m not used to big cities, y’know? Not much ever happened back at home, so I figured working in Tokyo would be exciting, and it is, but-”  
  
“It’s all a bit too much at once?”  
  
“Yeah! So I’ve been kinda...off, getting all distant when I’m teaching without meaning to be. I think it’s kinda hurt my reputation with some of the students…”  
  
“I get that. I’m not from around here either, actually. Took me a little while to adjust to all the hustle and bustle, myself.” Mikado smiled warmly, putting a hand on Tetsu’s shoulder.  
  
“Really?! You just seem so...confident!”  
  
“It takes time, believe me!” she said, chuckling softly. “But you’ll get there too in no time, I’m sure! Pretty soon all the students’ll be running straight to you!”  
  
Tetsu smiled wistfully. “I really hope so…”  
  
“Oh? Having trouble with some of the kids in your classes or something? Want me to talk to them?”  
  
“No no, it’s nothing like that! I just...I wish I could help some of them more, y’know? I wanna be someone they can come to with anything, anything at all, no matter how scary it may be for them, and know that I’ll help however I can. While I’d love to ask you to handle it for me, if I don’t try my hardest now, maybe they’ll never trust me...”  
  
Mikado’s smile widened. “You’re sweet, Tetsu, you know that?”  
  
“You think so?!” Tetsu asked, a look of surprise on his face.  
  
“I do. Even if things are a little awkward for you right now, I saw the way your eyes just lit up when you said all that. It’s pretty clear how much you care about those kids.”  
  
“Th-thank you!” Tetsu said, hoping the light blush that had sprung up on his face would vanish immediately.  
  
“I know you said it was nothing, but you getting so worked up also tells me that there’s someone in particular who’s making you feel like you can’t do your job properly, so what’s up?”  
  
“That obvious, huh?”  
  
“Extremely,” Mikado said, smirking softly.  
  
“There’s this girl, Yami. She just...she just seems so...distant. She keeps quiet all the time, nobody seems to really want to talk to her, either. She just...sits around reading, and I’m kinda worried something’s been bringing her down, but anytime I try to speak to her, she just walks away, barely even acknowledging me.”  
  
“Ah, yeah, Yami’s a special case. I wouldn’t worry about her, she’s just fine.”  
  
“I’m...I’m not sure I can believe that, Ms. Mikado,” Tetsu spoke up, a look of determination on his face.  
  
“Trust me, she’s A-OK. Just a bit introverted, that’s all. She doesn’t like people prying, either, so it might really be for the best if you just...backed off.” Mikado’s smile never faded, though it was clear that there was something behind what she was saying, a more serious tone taking over her words without her realizing.  
  
“But...well, everyone seems to open up to you! Yui Kotegawa, for instance. She keeps her relationships with just about everyone around her totally professional, but when she’s with you, it’s like she can’t stop smiling, like she’s a completely different person or something.”  
  
“Yui’s a sweetheart, haha!” Mikado responded, letting out a cheerful laugh. “But we know each other from outside of school, anyway. Look, I really wouldn’t worry about this too much. Things will pick up for you in time, and the students’ll all get a bit more used to you, too. Yami might even open up eventually. You just can’t force it, that’s all.”  
  
“I suppose so…” Tetsu grumbled.  
  
“Anyway,” Mikado said, checking her watch, “I should probably get home. I’ve got family waiting for me, and I promised them I’d try to not hang around work too late.” Mikado then smiled, winking at Tetsu once more. “Hang in there, OK? You’ll do great!”  
  
“I-I’ll do my best!” Tetsu called to her as she walked away, waving back at him.  
  
“...But I can’t just ignore her…” Tetsu muttered under his breath the instant she was out of earshot. He was determined to understand and help Yami, no matter what.  
  
He left the roof shortly after, stopping by a vending machine before heading back to his classroom. Not far behind him, hiding just out of sight, a petite, tanned girl with long black hair giggled to herself. “Earth is simply incredible...” she said to herself, smirking menacingly. “In this school alone, I’ve found enough entertainment to last me a lifetime!” With that, she headed into the class after Tetsu, passing through the door as if it wasn’t there at all.  
  
Tetsu drank deeply from the can of coffee he’d bought, wanting to polish it off before getting to work. As he finished his drink, he was immediately caught off guard by the strange girl standing right in front of him, a wide, cocky grin on her face.  
  
“Oh gosh! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there at all! Have you...been waiting for me here?” Tetsu didn’t recognize her at all. He was sure she wasn’t in any of his classes, but she was dressed in the school’s uniform, and he’d never turn down a student in need of help.  
  
“In a sense, I suppose I’ve been waiting for someone just like you for a very, very long time,” she said, barely managing to hide her excitement behind her smile.  
  
“Someone like me? You wanted to speak to a teacher, I’d assume?”  
  
“No, not exactly. It needed to be someone exactly like you. Someone deeply troubled, someone who wished with all their heart that they could do anything, anything at all to make things better!”  
  
“E-excuse me?” Tetsu wasn’t quite sure what to say. He’d done his best to familiarize himself with the school’s student body, so why didn’t he recognize her? He was sure he’d have heard stories about a girl with a personality this...distinct.  
  
“I wonder…” she spoke, slowly approaching Tetsu, “what might be troubling you so greatly? I bet I can guess…”   
  
“I-I’m fine, I promise! Is there anything I can help you with, Miss…?”  
  
“Nemesis.” She answered flatly, Tetsu’s eyebrow raising at the bizarre name. “That desire to help people, that must be the source of your frustration! There’s a student you long to understand, to bring a smile to her face! It’s that Yami girl, isn’t it? It must hurt you so deeply, trying so hard to make things better and failing each and every time!”  
  
“H-how did you-”  
  
“What if I told you I could help? That I could make your troubles and hers fade away? Would you like that?”  
  
“I…” Tetsu was still utterly taken aback. How could she possibly know about any of this? He’d checked the roof pretty thoroughly before going up there, he was sure nobody had heard him talking to Mikado. Still, if she was sincerely offering help, he didn’t want to decline it. “I’d like that…”  
  
“Excellent!” Nemesis said, her voice full of joy. “I was confident you’d agree, but it’s so lovely to hear you say it!”  
  
“What...what did you have in mind? To help out, I mean.”  
  
“It’s simple, really. We can get started right away, too!”  
  
“We can?”  
  
“Absolutely. All it takes…” she purred, picking up Tetsu’s coffee can, putting her free hand on his cheek, “Is this!” she shouted, before forcing the can to his lips, making him drink every last drop within it. As it slid down his throat, Tetsu felt indescribably odd, a bizarre, liquid-esque substance flowing into him. He had no idea what he was drinking, but it certainly wasn’t coffee.  
  
As Nemesis pulled away from him, he stood up in shock, wiping his lips with his arm. “What did you do?!” he yelled. “What was that stuff?!”  
  
“A little bit of Dark Matter, straight from me to you! It’s kinda perverted, isn’t it? Still, you’ll be fine, trust me. It’s vital for what’s about to come next. It’ll let me reshape you inside and out!”  
  
“What...what do you mean? This is all some weird joke, isn’t it?!”  
  
“It’s no use explaining it to you, you won’t get it right now, anyway. Oh, and we can’t have any interruptions for this, so…” She snapped her fingers, and the world around them simply vanished, leaving the two of them standing in a plain, featureless white void. “Perfect! No distractions whatsoever! Just you and me now!”  
  
“This is insane! How is any of this possible?!” he cried, trying and failing to spot a way out of...wherever this was.  
  
“That question’ll get boring fast,” she said with a yawn, before smirking once more as she looked over at Tetsu. “But this, well, this’ll be just incredible! You’re already starting to look better! There’s no turning back now!”  
  
“Huh? I…What’s happening?” he asked, his vision blurring as his eyes grew bigger, further highlighting just how worried he’d become as the color shifted from a deep brown to a brilliant emerald green.  
  
“Sheesh, that’s already sounding dull. Here…” she said, conjuring up a small mirror and holding it up to Tetsu. “That should put an end to some of your questions.”  
  
“I...I can’t see all too well…” he whined.  
  
“Ahaha! How silly of me, here you go!” she said as a pair of rimless glasses appeared in her hand, slipping them onto his face as the mirror from earlier floated in front of him, giving him a clear view of his reflection.  
  
“My eyes! They...they look all different!”  
  
“Very astute. Looks like the rest of your face is changing too!”  
  
Tetsu couldn’t take his eyes off of the mirror, watching as his nose seemed to ripple and shrink down, becoming a cute little point and turning increasingly pale. That light tone spread through his body, clearing his skin and removing much of his body hair as it painted over every inch of his being. The rest of his face then shifted as well, with his chin getting smaller and less pronounced until it was a gentle, delicate curve while his cheeks became softer and smoother, flushing a light pink as he grew increasingly flustered by what he was seeing, unable to stammer out much of anything through lips that grew fuller and more luscious with each passing second. His eyebrows then thinned out, becoming less bushy and more refined as they shifted into naturally curious arcs that only made him seem even more frightened.  
  
“Gorgeous, no?” Nemesis taunted. “Seem familiar to you?”  
  
“N-no! It’s all wrong, that’s not my face!” He cried out in a voice that was distinctly different from what he’d had his entire life. This wasn’t just high-pitched, but it was soft, delicate, with a gentle lilt that he was utterly incapable of producing on his own. Even through his shouts, there was something undeniably adorable about it.  
  
“It is now! No matter how much you deny it, every single inch of you is about to change radically! Still, I’m surprised you don’t recognize that face. You’re awfully dense for a teacher, maybe I’ll have to fix that… Oh, I know! This should make it a little more clear!” She smirked at him, before his head began to itch.  
  
His eyes remained glued to his reflection, watching as his hair seemed to shimmer before him, brightening until it was a radiant golden color that swept through each and every follicle of hair that still remained on his body. Before he could even reach up to touch it, it suddenly started growing rapidly, cascading down his body until it was well below his butt, framing his beautiful face wonderfully.  
  
“Still don’t recognize yourself? I know the eyes are a little different, but surely you’ve connected the dots by now?” Nemesis asked teasingly.  
  
Tetsu pawed at his face, suddenly fully aware of what she meant.  
  
“This is Yami’s face! Y-you’re turning me into her?” The face reflected in the mirror looked older than Yami, and the eyes were bright green instead of deep crimson, but everything else about it was practically identical.  
  
“Ohhh, finally! You’re not entirely right, but you’re in the right ballpark! That’s her face, but one Yami’s already enough of a pain, I wouldn’t want to make two of them! No no, you’re going to understand her deeply as something of a big sister to the poor girl! But it’s ridiculous, you can’t be her big sister if you’re a man now, can you? I’m going to fix that...”  
  
Tetsu’s eyes widened in shock as an odd warmth overcame the rest of his body, fully understanding what she was about to do. “Y-you’re not serious, are you?” he cried out.  
  
“Oh, absolutely! Just think about it, after all, who do you think a shy, virtuous girl like Yami would rather open up to: someone warm and motherly, a woman who she can call family, or some newbie teacher, trying to improve his own standing by butting into his students’ business? The choice is pretty obvious, isn’t it? Besides, she’d never open up to a man anyway, she thinks they’re all perverted beasts, and she just haaates perverted things…”  
  
He stood there for awhile, thinking over what the strange girl had said, her accusations over his motives hurting him far more than he was comfortable to admit. No matter how he twisted things, turning her arguments over in his head, he had to admit, they somehow made sense.  
  
“A-alright. I’ll do it,” she said, trying to ignore the firm look of resolve spreading over the cute face reflected back at her in the mirror.  
  
“Excellent! Now then, it’s no fun without a view!” she shouted gleefully, watching as her clothes, save for the glasses she’d given her, melted away into nothingness, leaving her totally nude, the warmth in her body only growing increasingly intense. “That hair’s gonna get in the way too, but it’s far too pretty to get rid of! I know exactly what to do!” she shouted out, right before Tetsu’s hair seemed to lift itself up, bunching up as a big blue ribbon tied around it just above her butt. The long, silky locks were still on full display, they’d just been styled to look even girlier and far less unruly than before.  
  
Those feelings soon reached a fever pitch as her body began to shrink down, greatly reducing her height until she was almost a full foot shorter, the rest of her frame growing a touch more lithe, hard edges giving way to soft curves as her masculinity began to fade, a growing look of embarrassment on her face as her skin turned even paler and softer.  
  
The changes then started focusing on her arms, the already slender limbs growing thinner and daintier while Nemesis cackled with joy. Her muscle tone seemed to melt away, making her look increasingly soft as her hands began to shrink down, fingers cracking slightly as they grew a little bit longer, weight slipping off of them until they were refined and beautiful, tipped off with cute, feminine nails that seemed to shine in the light, as if they’d been recently polished.  
  
“So...so pretty…” she murmured, holding them up in front of her face, eyeing them with a growing feeling of satisfaction.  
  
“Haha, enjoying yourself?”  
  
“I-It’s not like that, I just…”  
  
“You’re turning so very, very beautiful, you know? There’s no reason to be ashamed of yourself for appreciating that. Besides, it’s all for Yami!”  
  
“Y-you’re right, it’s...it’s nice. I bet Yami will think I’m pretty, too…” she replied, a look of shy determination on her face.  
  
As she looked over her arms, she was suddenly struck by an odd feeling of vertigo, causing her to stumble in place, Nemesis rushing to her side to hold her steady.  
  
“It’s exciting, isn’t it? Just look at what’s happening to your legs!” she cried out, enthusiastically.  
  
Tetsu looked down at her lower body, deeply embarrassed by her exposed penis, but doing her best to ignore it as her feet reshaped in front of her. They shrunk down drastically until they’d become just as cute and feminine as her hands, her toes narrowing out and becoming utterly adorable while the nails grew out and were adorned with a clear polish as well. Her calves had lost much of their weight earlier on, but they now seemed to fill out just a little bit, until they’d reached a soft, cute size that suited her growing girlishness well. Finally, the changes rushed up her legs, her thighs getting thicker and more supple with each passing second, getting rounder and plumper until they pressed against each other, smothering her penis in an overwhelming, erotic softness, forcing her to spread her legs a little as a blush spread across her face. She couldn’t help but stroke them, loving their silky smooth texture beneath her delicate fingertips. For as embarrassed as she was, a smaller part of her told her she was becoming nothing short of beautiful, turning her an even brighter red than she already was.  
  
“You like those? Gosh, you’re going to absolutely love what comes next~!” Nemesis teased, just as Tetsu’s hips blossomed, spreading outwards and growing wider and wider, making her legs look even sexier. As she admired them, she saw her butt growing bigger and bigger, plumping up and jiggling ever so slightly as it grew increasingly enticing, shaping itself into a full, soft peach that Nemesis couldn’t help but give a light spank, forcing a cute “Ahn~!” from Tetsu’s lips.  
  
“Told you that you’d love it! Things are only gonna get better from here! I bet you can’t wait to feel it yourself, can you?”  
  
Tetsu nodded shyly, as embarrassed as she was to admit it, she’d gone from not just accepting her changes, but fully embracing them, absolutely adoring what was becoming of her.  
  
She didn’t have to wait long for things to get going again, as she felt an odd gurgling in her stomach, watching her pale, soft tummy shrunk down, getting flatter and tighter as her waist slowly cinched in, forming a gentle slope that ran down to her wide, sexy, full hips.  
  
“You’re already so sexy! But now, let’s get started on the main attractions!” Nemesis shouted excitedly, reaching up and grabbing at Tetsu’s flat chest, squeezing it more and more firmly until it finally began to swell up, getting bigger and bigger, quickly filling up her hands. Soon, another pair of hands joined hers, Tetsu unable to resist grabbing at them as they felt heavier and heavier on her slender frame.  
  
“Th-they’re so big…” she said, watching as they swelled up to a size she’d only seen on bombshells like Mikado. Her nipples poked out from between their fingers, getting stiffer as they puffed up bigger and bigger, looking more and more enticing, Tetsu wondering how they’d feel if someone sucked and bit at them and-  
  
“M-Miss Nemesis, d-did you make me some kind of pervert? I-I thought you said Yami hated perverts, I don’t want her to hate me…” she cried, trying to dismiss her increasingly dirty thoughts.  
  
“Ahaha! ‘Miss Nemesis!’ You’re so polite, it sounds so cute with that voice, y’know? And no, I didn’t make you a pervert, but this body hasn’t been touched in so very, very long. In fact, I’m the first person besides yourself to even lay a finger on it. Everyone has desires, you know. You’ll have to give into them sooner or later, or you might really turn into a perv~!” she teased as she pinched at Tetsu’s nipples, forcing her to let out another sexy, naughty moan.  
  
“Those moans sure sound pervy enough, haha! Don’t you wanna play with yourself now? It’ll feel soooo good! You’re a woman with needs, after all!”  
  
“I...well, I…” Tetsu stammered, her blush growing more and more intense as a pleasant warmth spread over her crotch.  
  
“Looks like you’re about to get your chance, too!”  
  
The mirror slowly hovered down near her crotch, angling up to give her a full view of what was happening.   
  
She watched as her penis started to shrink down, growing thinner and smaller, the head changing to a bright pink color as it went. As weird as it was, as much as she wanted to look away, something about watching it happened captivated her, even excited her, the warmth that had spread throughout her groin starting to spread through her whole body and cloud her mind. She felt her testicles move up into her body before she saw her scrotum start to pull in tight against her crotch, an overbearing heat growing deep within her stomach as her body shifted and rearranged, a sultry moan slipping out of her lips as her testicles became fertile ovaries and settled on either side of her new, eager womb, a ache starting to spread deep inside of it as she moaned louder. What remained of scrotum started to take on the same rosy pink color as her penis, pulling inward to form the tight, wet walls of her vagina, while what was on the outside puffed up slightly into glistening, hungry lips. Unable to resist, she brought her fingers down to them, spreading them slightly, looking at how ready and waiting she was, how desperately her body wanted to feel pleasure. The change wrapped up, the shaft of her penis changing into a pink little hood at the top of her pussy, hiding away her swollen, aroused clitoris, but she was far from done, peeling back her hood and teasing her clitoris while she slid a finger in and out of her starving vagina, teasing her insides while her legs started to quake. The cloud in her mind shifted to a white, blinding euphoria, a she let out a loud, satisfied moan, a feeling of release coursing through every inch of her as she climaxed, thick juices starting to drip down her legs as she pulled her finger out, splatters of it hitting against the mirror as she fell to her knees in pleasure.  
  
“Didn’t that feel wonderful?”  
  
Tetsu nodded, shyly, before stammering out, “B-but it was so...so dirty! Yami might hate me!”  
  
Nemesis just smirked. “Not at all, it was just a simple, but oh-so-incredible release! Can you imagine how hard things would be, looking out for Yami while getting distracted by all sorts of naughty thoughts? This’ll make things so much easier for you!”  
  
“I...I suppose so, but...can I at least get some clothes? I...I don’t like displaying my body like this…”  
  
“Sure!” Nemesis said cheerfully, as the area around Tetsu’s body was engulfed in a strange rippling darkness, clothes forming from nothingness and tightening against her body. As it began to fade, She looked down at herself, her face turning bright red as she scanned over her outlandish outfit.  
  
“Wh-what is this?! C-can’t I get something a little less...showy?”  
  
She was dressed in all black, an odd outfit with a sleeveless coat that spread out in tatters around her knees and a long collar covering her slender neck while a plus-shaped keyhole in the center of it revealed her deep, pillowy cleavage. Loose, billowing sleevelets fastened themselves right at the top of her arms, the sleeves flowing down to her wrists. A short skirt hugged her wide hips, barely coming down far enough to cover her butt. Four leather belts wrapped around her legs, two of them squeezing against her calves while the other two went higher, biting into her juicy thighs, their soft flesh bulging from the pressure. On her feet were a simple pair of plain leather boots, traveling up her ankles, the collars spreading out a little wider than the rest of them. Much to her dismay, she noticed that Nemesis hadn’t given her any underwear, with her nipples showing through and her skirt feeling dangerously short. She made a quick, poor attempt to cover up her chest, using her free hand to tug the front of the skirt down as low as she could.   
  
“Oh gosh, it’d break Yami’s heart if you called it that to her face! That’s her battle dress, after all! You want to understand her feelings? I can’t imagine anything that would help you bond with her better than dressing just like her!” She smirked, giggling slightly.  
  
“S-she dresses like this? Wait, d-did you say…’battle dress?’” Tetsu stammered, a confused expression on her face.  
  
“Ahaha, you’ve got so much to learn!” Nemesis cackled, the void around them melting away, the two suddenly back in the classroom.  
  
Tetsu only felt more exposed, even if nobody else was around, quickly began pleading with Nemesis, “I’m...I’m a teacher! At least, I hope I still am...I can’t dress like this at school!”  
  
“Fair enough. Not that it matters what you wear with a body like that, though…” Nemesis smirked, making Tetsu’s outfit shift and melt onto her body, forming into something far less revealing, though still form-fitting enough to show off her sexy, sensual curves wonderfully.  
  
The odd battle dress had given way to a snug, white blouse with a bright green brooch affixed to the front of the collar. Shortly after that had formed, a sheer black suit jacket seemed to grow over it, hugging her body tightly. It was followed by the appearance of a matching black skirt wrapping around her legs, reaching down to the middle of her supple thighs. Soft, tight pantyhose then crawled all the way up her legs, before a pair of black, low-heeled shoes appeared on her feet. She could feel the support of a bra holding up her sizeable breasts comfortably, as well as, much to her relief, a pair of panties covering her crotch. She was grateful for the support, though she couldn’t see just how skimpy and lacy her new underwear had become.  
  
“That’s much better, thank you so much, Miss Nemesis!” Tetsu said with a relieved sigh, a gentle smile on her face. It had been a long, complicated day for her, and she wasn’t sure if she could still be a teacher at all given how much she’d changed, but she was grateful to be adequately clothed, finding herself particularly happy with how formal and professional she appeared to be, glad that she at least looked the part. As much as she wasn’t expecting any of this, she knew Nemesis was right, that it was the best way to help Yami smile again. She took a step towards her, holding out her arms and preparing to hug her, before toppling over on the high heels she’d failed to notice and crashing right to the floor, giving Nemesis a clear view of her lacy purple panties before she slowly, carefully picked herself up, blushing furiously. “S-sorry! I’m not used to this body, and these shoes, and, well…”  
  
“Haha! You can’t even handle shoes like that? Gosh, you’re gonna need more work than I thought. I like that clumsiness, though! Let’s keep it!” She smirked as she placed a hand on Tetsu’s forehead.  
  
She felt an odd, almost pleasant sensation fill her mind as she shut her eyes, a lightheadedness overcoming her, making her dizzy to the point where Nemesis had to walk her over to a seat, plopping her down and watching as she clutched at her temples rubbing them gently until the feelings faded. When she opened her eyes again, the world seemed...different? No, this was the same room, she just...she felt odd, like everything was both more and less familiar to her, somehow.  
  
“M-Miss Nemesis...what...what happened?”  
  
“Oh? Feeling a little confused? That’ll fade, don’t you worry. I know what’ll help! Tell me your name!”  
  
“My...my name? It’s Tearju Lu- huh? No, that’s not it. It’s Tear… Tearju Lunatique...” The name sounded odd, almost bizarre at first, but each time she pondered it, each time she turned it over in her mind, it felt more and more familiar to her. She was certain it was hers, she couldn’t think of any other names that fit, after all.  
  
“Ahaha, perfect!”  
  
“Y-you altered my thoughts, my...my mind?” Tear asked, somehow feeling even more embarrassed than she had before.  
  
“Bingo! You’re smarter already! Before this, you’d have probably asked me what had happened a dozen more times, asked me where your name went, all kinds of asinine stuff. We couldn’t have you tripping over yourself all the time, so I made that body a little more, well, let’s say ‘homey.’ Changed your memories around, too. You still remember that old life, mostly, but that’s not yours anymore, is it?”  
  
“It’s...it’s not, no. This is...it’s me now, completely.”  
  
“Perfect! Best part is, nobody else remembers the old you either, they all know you as the esteemed doctor Tearju Lunatique! Tell me something, you’re not from here, are you? Earth, I mean. In fact, tell me about your past! I’m sure there’s so much for you to say!”  
  
“I’m...I’m from another planet entirely. I went to school with Ryoko Mikado, the nurse here. She’s not human either…” The more she spoke, the more lucid her memories became. She recalled being hailed as a prodigy her whole life, growing up and studying biotechnology, becoming best friends with Ryoko, getting scouted to join an organization called Eden, where-  
“Yami!” Tear cried. “I’ve got all these memories about Yami! She’s...she’s my clone? But...but I abandoned her, left her scared and alone for years… No wonder she grew so cold… How...how did you do this? How did you completely rewrite our lives?!”  
  
“That’s far above even your understanding, Doctor. Altering reality’s a cinch, though, at least for me!” She smiled cockily. “Yami always was a clone, made entirely for combat, too! I just...inserted you into her life and added a little dose of tragedy. A backstory’s no good without some sadness, after all! Plus, it was the best way to ensure that she didn’t change too much. She still needed to be Yami, after all. Besides, I gave the two of you a reason to be together. She’s accepted you here, you know? You two live together.”  
  
“We...we do…” Tear said, a small, faint smile working its way onto her face through her anguish as she searched through her memories, recalling the day Yami and her had decided that, after years of separation, they’d try to be a family again.  
  
_“If you’re serious, if you mean every word of it, I’ll...I’ll accept your offer.” Yami wore her typically cold expression as she spoke. Tear couldn’t blame her, of course, she’d been alone so, so long. Stuck in a universe she was certain didn’t care for her, abandoned by the one person she truly loved.  
  
“R-really?! A-are you sure you’re still OK with me? I...I understand if you’re n-not… Wait! I’m...well, I’m really sorry to ask this, but this isn’t just some...some joke, is it? I- Oh gosh, you’re t-trying your best and I just asked if it was a joke! I-I’m such an awful person, I-” Tear beat herself up more and more with each passing word, searching for some reason, any reason at all, that things between her and Yami actually weren’t OK, and how she could tell herself that it was all her fault. She felt her eyes welling up, rubbing them with her sleeves before a pair of arms wrapped around her, hugging her gently. She opened her eyes, looking down to see Yami looking up at her, tears streaming down her face.  
  
“Tear, I’m not good at this sort of thing, but…” Despite crying, she tried to keep her tone as calm and even as ever. Her stoicism was betrayed, though by a shakiness she just couldn’t hide. “I missed you, Tear… I thought you hated me, and I was so happy when you came back, but I just couldn’t accept that things might be getting better… I think you’re acting like that right now, and... I can’t let that happen.” She tightened her hug, still trying her best to stifle her sobs.  
  
“Y-Yami…” Tear stammered, taken aback by how warm the usually aloof girl was being. Taking a deep breath, Tear calmed herself down, before returning Yami’s hug as warmly as she possibly could, petting her head gently as she did. “You’ve been holding in so much, haven’t you?” Her tone was warm and gentle, almost motherly.  
  
Yami just nodded slowly, still clearly crying.  
  
“You’ve been scared and sad, desperate for somewhere you could call home. Telling yourself you didn’t deserve one anyway, isn’t that right?”  
  
Yami was still for a moment, but nodded again, holding back her tears as best as she could.  
  
“It’s OK to cry, you know? It’s OK to let out everything you’ve got bottled up because, well…” Tear wrapped both of her arms around the smaller girl. “I’m here for you, I’ll listen to each and every one of your troubles, I’ll take them all, and make them feel so, so small, you’ll wonder why you were sad at all. I’ll make every single day warm and gentle. I’ll do all that for you, be there whenever you need me, listen whenever you want to talk, and show you how much I care because...I love you Yami, and you’re home now.”  
  
Yami bawled her eyes out at that, crying at the top of her lungs until she didn’t have a drop left in her, clutching at Tear like she’d vanish the moment she let go. When she finally managed to calm down, her sobs slowly drying up, she looked up at Tear’s face, just barely squeaking out a soft, timid “I love you too, Tear…”_  
  
“Ohhh, getting all misty-eyed?” Nemesis asked, a cocky smile on her face.  
  
“I-I’m just...thinking about… Well, you know what it is I’m thinking about, don’t you? You know what you’ve...what you’ve done for us.” Tear rubbed at her eyes, before smiling warmly at Nemesis. “You acted so mean, saying all that stuff about tragedy, but you’re...you’re a nice girl, aren’t you?”  
  
“Slander,” Nemesis said, putting her hands behind her head as her grin grew ever wider. “I just felt like toying with someone today, that’s all.”  
  
“By making our lives so much...so much warmer? By helping Yami smile?”  
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I just gave you two a tragic past to work through.”  
  
Tear walked up to Nemesis, hugging her warmly. “Well thank you for toying with the both of us.” Suddenly, her arms felt as if they were clutching at nothing at all. Her eyes widened as she looked down to see that Nemesis had completely vanished. “I suppose she would leave without a word, haha... “ Tear said to herself, chuckling softly.  
  
“No no, that’s not it,” a voice called to Tear, who spun around to see Nemesis sitting at one of the desks, dressed in a black kimono instead of the uniform she’d been wearing. “Hugs are just too sappy for me. Save them for that sister of yours.” She grinned, saying, “See you around, Doctor,” with a wave, before vanishing entirely.  
  
“Take care, Nemesis…” Tear whispered to herself, confident that Nemesis would hear her, before the door to the classroom suddenly opened up, with Yami standing in the doorway.  
  
“Ah, Yami! R-ready to go home?” Tear asked, a small hint of worry creeping into her mind that somehow, despite everything, the girl she now saw as her little sister wouldn’t recognize her.  
  
“Is everything OK, Tear?” Yami asked, prompting a heavy sigh of relief from Tear. “Your eyes are a little red, were you crying? Did someone hurt you?” She kept speaking almost monotonously, but Tear immediately noticed a flicker of anger in her eyes, followed by her turning a few locks of her hair into a large, sharp blade.  
  
“I-I’m OK, Yami! Don’t worry, I was just...well, thinking about us, the day we reconciled.” Despite her shock as she tried to calm Yami, she couldn’t help but smile as she spoke, glad that her sister recognized her.  
  
The blade Yami created seemed to melt away, her hair turning back to normal before she spoke again, any and all harshness having completely left her. “It’s a nice memory. Why would you cry over something like that?”  
  
“Remember what I told you that day? It’s OK to cry, silly. Sometimes it’s the best way we can show each other, and ourselves, how happy we really are. I just...I guess I thought about how much I missed you, how many lonely nights I spent, wondering where you’d gone and how you were doing. Then, well, I thought about how we’re together now, and how neither of us ever have to go to bed feeling lonely ever again.” Her smile grew warmer again as she walked up to Yami, hugging her softly. “Maybe I’m just a bit of a crybaby though, haha.”  
  
Yami returned the hug, her face nestled against Tear’s chest. “That’s OK, I love you the way you are, Tear. If you weren’t a crybaby, you might not be you, after all.”  
  
“I suppose so!” Tear replied happily, barely holding herself back from crying yet again.  
  
After a few seconds, they let go of each other, Tear smiling warmly at Yami, who wore the smallest flicker of a smile herself, before Tear spoke up once more. “Now why don’t we head home, hmm? I’ll make dinner tonight.”  
  
Yami’s small smile immediately faded, her expression turning grim in a heartbeat.  
  
“H-hey! What’s wrong?!” Tear cried.  
  
“T-Tear, let’s get some taiyaki instead…” she said, a hint of nervousness entering her voice.  
  
“You had that last night! Let’s...let’s try something different!”  
  
“But…” Yami muttered, staring down at the floor.  
  
Tear let out a resigned sigh, “You can tell me whatever’s on your mind, you know? You don’t have to bottle anything up.”  
  
“Are you sure?” Yami asked, staring into her eyes with a deadly serious expression.  
  
“Absolutely, I’m always willing to listen.”  
  
Yami didn’t let a hint of emotion into her voice, as if the situation was of grave importance. “Your cooking is terrible, Tear.”  
  
Tear’s heart sunk. “B-b-but...But I… I practiced really hard! I read a bunch of Earth cookbooks before coming here! The food I made for us the other day tasted fine to me!”  
  
Yami just stared at her blankly.  
  
“I mean...well, it wasn’t very good, but- No...no, it was terrible, huh?” Tear admitted, smiling weakly.  
  
“It’s very bad,” Yami responded, flatly. “But…”  
  
“‘But’?!” Yami asked excitedly, desperate for a silver lining.  
  
“I can tell you’ve been trying your best, and...that’s very nice of you, Tear.”  
  
She hugged Yami yet again, as tightly as she could. Thankfully, Yami was far stronger than herself, so she barely flinched even as Tear squeezed her like her life depended on it, simply deciding to wrap an arm around her slowly and pat her back. “We’ll get some taiyaki instead. Thank you for being honest with me, Yami! One day, I swear I’ll make something even better than taiyaki! I’ve just got to keep trying!”  
  
Yami sighed. As much as she wanted taiyaki, Tear was being so sincere and sweet that it almost hurt. “Tear…” she spoke softly.  
  
“Hmm?”   
  
“Do you...think you’d like to make something together? I’ve never cooked, but I’m sure we could...try our best together…” Yami couldn’t stop herself from blushing bright red the moment the words left her lips, burying her head into the bigger girl’s chest to hide it as best as possible.  
  
“Oh gosh, do you mean it?!” Tear asked, a huge, happy smile spreading across her face.  
  
Yami nodded slowly, mumbling out a “yes” that couldn’t quite be heard, her voice muffled by Tear’s breasts.  
  
“Thank you, Yami! We’ll...we’ll make something incredible! I’ll even get you some taiyaki for dessert, OK?  
  
Yami pulled herself off of Tear’s chest, nodding vigorously before pulling Tear out of the classroom, eager to head home with her older sister, barely giving her a chance to shut the door on the way out.  
  
~~~  
  
The food they’d made had turned out...adequate, at best. Still, that was a remarkable improvement over the meals that had come before it, and the whole time they cooked, the two of them felt completely at peace. Tear approached it with the utmost seriousness at first, slipping an old labcoat over the simple turtleneck and jeans she’d changed into once she got home, telling Yami it was just as important to her as any of the work she’d done in the past. That demeanor quickly faded, though, as their little mistakes kept piling up, Tear giggling at every bit she cut a little too big, or overcompensated and sliced into nigh-on imperceptible flecks. Even Yami handled her share of the work with a quiet enthusiasm that soon gave way to a faint blush and, not long after, a slight, happy smile. It wouldn’t have mattered how the food turned out in the end. It was the first meal they’d ever made together and nothing could make that at all less special.  
  
Tear lay on top of her bed, smiling happily to herself. Despite having been changed so recently, nothing about that old life seemed even slightly like it belonged to her. In fact, the more she thought back on it, the more distant it felt, like an odd dream she’d finally woken up from. She wondered if she’d think less and less of that life over time until, one day, it wouldn’t matter to her at all. She saw no reason to pay it much mind, though. After all, she felt utterly at peace now, something she was sure she’d have never been able to claim in the past.  
  
She heard a soft knocking at her bedroom door, followed by Yami calling to her. “Tear, do you mind if I come in?”  
  
“Sure!” she called back, Yami stepping in a second later.  
  
Tear’s eyes widened as she looked at her. Yami only ever wore her uniform and her battle dress, insisting that the latter was comfortable for her despite how elaborate and unwieldy it looked. Now she was wearing something entirely different, though still completely familiar to Tear: a simple, cute black dress.  
  
“Th-that dress, it’s…” Tear searched her mind, immediately hitting upon why she’d seen it before. It was her favorite dress when she was a child, growing up in a facility completely cut off from the outside world. Despite how lonely her childhood was, Tear could only see it being worn by a young girl who never seemed to stop smiling, always eager to spend time with the big sister she loved so dearly, insisting that one day they’d move away together, find somewhere happy to call home.  
  
And here she was, dressed just like she used to, clutching a small stuffed animal from her childhood and smiling softly at her older sister.  
  
“It’s not the exact same one, I grew out of that so this is a bigger replica, admittedly, but...I thought you might like to see it again…” Yami blushed as she spoke, eagerly awaiting Tear’s approval. “She’s...she’s the same, though. I didn’t want to lose her…” She held out her stuffed animal, one that Tear had made for her when she was a child, before clutching it tightly.  
  
“Oh gosh, Yami…” Tear wasn’t quite sure how to respond, simply smiling warmly at the smaller girl, holding herself back from crying yet again.  
  
“Do you...do you mind if I sleep with you tonight? I know it’s a bit too early to sleep, but talking for a while first could be nice…”  
  
“That sounds lovely, Yami!”  
  
Yami walked up to her, placing the stuffed toy next to Tear before lying down next to her. Slowly, nervously, she moved her head onto Tear’s tummy, laying against her and smiling happily.  
  
“This is nice, isn’t it?” Tear asked as she looked down at Yami. She hadn’t seen her look so happy in years.  
  
Yami nodded slowly. “It’s...It’s so comfortable…”  
  
“Haha, well, we can stay like this allllll night, if you want to.” Tear spoke softly, putting her hand on top of Yami’s and clutching it gently.  
  
“I think I’d like that, Tear…”  
  
“Me too, Yami. Me too.”


End file.
